Why I took it off the list:
As a fan of period horror films with a supernatural twist (such as the excellent Post Mortem (2020)), I decided to check out this Iranian film abut supposed demonic possession going on in a remote village in Kurdistan in the 1970s.
Going in, I didn’t know much apart from the longline and the fact it was well-received at the Venice International Film Festival, so was prepared to be pleasantly surprised.
So, let’s dig in!
Review of Zalava (2021)
Zalava opens with a title card informing us it’s taking place in Iran in 1978, before the revolution, in a village in Kurdistan. It then proceeds to follow a young woman from behind as she makes her way through the rustic streets, haunted by the sounds of howling winds. She then comes to an abrupt stop, terrified, as blood runs from her nose.
Another title card then gives us most of the introduction we need to the titular remote village and context to understand the brief opening scene: the region was settled by a band of gypsies over a hundred years ago, but a powerful fear has stayed with them since…
The film then jumps right into showing how this fear has generated a palpable hysteria among the townsfolk: local police have confiscated their guns to prevent injury due to irrational beliefs, but this only leads to an accidental death.
This gets the local police chief, Sergeant Masoud Ahmadi, into trouble. Ordered to give the locals their guns back, this stony-faced skeptic refuses to take the local superstitions seriously, and makes it his mission to disprove the claims of demonic possession in the town.
However, when he attempts to intervene in a banishment and expose the exorcist, Amardan, as a fraud, he finds himself getting caught up in the superstition and himself fighting against the fear that has taken hold of the townsfolk.
Generates Considerable Tension (Mostly around a Jar)
In order to quell the hysteria among the locals, Sergeant Ahmadi takes into his possession the jar supposedly containing the exorcised demon. And this is where the tension in the film really begins to crank up: the fear the townsfolk feel is transposed to the audience as the jar is repeatedly shown to be in danger of breach, most notably by a cat and by a disbelieving Ahmadi himself.
Through a surprising and effective twist, the offending jar then becomes the most significant source of unease in the film, which builds considerably towards a full-on show-down between the disbelievers and villagers at the local doctor’s residence.
Like in Post Mortem, the mounting hysteria of the townsfolk also contributes to much of the tension, especially because they’re incredibly trigger-happy and constantly threatening to shoot any one of the (many) people accused of possession to contain the demon.
Unlike in that earlier film though, the threat of the supernatural is kept incredibly ambiguous throughout, making for a more psychological exploration of the divide between superstition and science and rationality.
Final score: 8/10
Zalava (2021): Worth Watching?
Yes, Zalava is a fascinating exploration of superstition v.s. logical thinking that keeps the tension high throughout, elevated by its authentic locations, moody cinematography, and intense set pieces.
